Reflecting the market value of a stock or bond?

David G.
David G. Quicken Windows Subscription Member
edited July 2023 in Investing (Windows)

How do you reflect the change in cost basis to its market value when reconciling your monthly brokerage statements?

Answers

  • Tom Young
    Tom Young Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    You don't. Cost basis is a concept of "your cost" for a security while market value relates to external activity in the market as perceptions of value change. They really have no direct relationship

    If you have the same number of shares in Quicken as shown by the brokerage statement and use the same month end per share market value as the brokers, then your numbers will agree perfectly. If you have the same number of shares as shown by the brokerage statement but a different per share value, then your numbers will disagree. You can get them to agree just by changing the Quote in Quicken. If your number of shares differ from that shown by the broker then you have to hunt down that difference - typically working through the history of transactions - and fix it, or put in a "plug" entry in Quicken to get the numbers to agree.

    Cost basis, in total for a security, reflects the totality of the transactions that affect the cost basis, like purchases, sales, stock splits, spin offs, return of capital, etc.

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